We broke up on the eve of crisis government with an emblematic image of the European role of Italy and its foreign policy. It is worthwhile to think about it for a moment, now that the rite of passage between Joseph has been completed Conte and Mario Draghi. It was December 30, 2020.
Angela Merkel, Emmanuel Macron and Xi Jinping announce a historian agreement on investments between the European Union and China. The Chancellor participates as the current president of the EU. The French one had no reasons institutional to appear – only one of the other 26 leaders of the Union – but he was determined to maintain the impression that his political weight in Europe is equal to that of Merkel. As for Italy, he hadn’t even seen it coming the agreement: a few days earlier the entire structure of the foreign ministry was working quietly in the belief that it would take some more years.
But that of Merkel, Macron and Xi together not only the image irrelevance whose shadow always extends over Italy when those who drive it do not play their cards at their best. That moment will also remain for another reason, which now also involves Mario Draghi. That group photo with the Chinese autocrat implicitly revealed that Donald Trump is not the only obstacle in relations between Europe and the United States. Joe Biden he took the Europeans’ choice to conclude agreements with China very badly even before he, then waiting to enter the White House, had the time to speak.
this is where the Draghi government, because the new premier is not only recognized by other European leaders as one of the few to be of very first band internationally. Draghi also has closer ties than anyone in the EU with many top officials in the administration Biden, now that Trump is gone but the reasons for tension remain. If the White House does not appreciate the Brussels agreement with China, in Europe it can be seen in the strategy of Buy American of the new administration a protectionist move to the detriment of German, French or Italian suppliers. If Washington doesn’t like limits all’export of vaccines from Europe, in Brussels it is noted that for now none of the duties Trump against hundreds of European products over the Airbus dispute. And while Italy, France and Spain continue to impose extraordinary taxes on the Big Tech giants, Biden shows no signs of accepting compromises that displease its big Silicon Valley backers. The list of misunderstandings long and certainly the most obvious will always concern the relationship with China. Macron and Merkel have clear reservations about Biden’s idea of a coalition of democracies to contain the rise of Beijing.
What can be the place of Draghi, who for his government indicates a pro-European and pro-Atlantic strategy? Not that of a bridge between the two shores, also because no one needs intermediaries: always an ambiguous role at best, or unrealistic. On the contrary, an opportunity opens up weird for Italy to count more than the specific weight of the country in the international context suggests. Merkel in her final months as chancellor, while whoever succeeds her in Berlin will need time to to establish your credentials. Macron is about to enter the presidential campaign set in just over a year and in a state of form that is anything but splendid: in recent months, Marine Le Pen, the leader of the far right, for the first time since 2017 has passed in the polls on the first round.
Draghi doesn’t have a government horizon either boundless. Per has its prestige, experience and global relations, has a vision of the European interest and the Euro-American alliance that it involves guarantees Italy in many ways. Draghi will also have the presidency of the G20 for the whole year and will walk surrounded by the perception that his time in the Italian institutions does not end with the life of this executive. For the first time in a while voice of an Italian it can count on the same level – perhaps more – than that of leaders of other countries who are more solid and sure of their place in the world. An opportunity to build some of that solidity and self-confidence here too.
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